PHOTOS: Desperate struggles amid hunger crisis in Niger

As is the case throughout much of West Africa's Sahel region, children and families in the village of Tabouche, Niger, are taking extreme measures just to survive. An ongoing drought continues to fuel a hunger crisis that shows no signs of letting up.

The images below provide a glimpse into a part of the world that desperately needs our attention and assistance. (Photos by Chris Sisarich for World Vision.)

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Aicha Nana holds up a bundle of millet with her father, Saadou Mahaman, at their home in Niger. "The harvest was really not good," says Saadou, adding that erratic rains caused damage to their crops. "Worms came and destroyed our crops, and you can see even these bundles...are not really good bundles. The worm has already destroyed everything, so all our hopes have gone."

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Aicha holds up pieces of millet crop. The girl lives with her father, Saadou; mother, Barira; and four sisters and two brothers. In a normal year, the family harvests more than 200 bundles of millet. This year, they harvested just 10, and they must save what they have to replant for the next harvest.

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Aicha helps her mother pound millet. Because of their extremely limited supply of the crop, the family must resort to selling animals to buy food. Even so, they eat just one meal per day, in addition to a watery porridge.

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Shapiou, 3 (left), and Sharafa, 5 (right), sit outside their house drinking a type of porridge made from millet and water. The children only eat one meal in the evening but drink the porridge during the day. It contains little nutritional value, but it's all they have.

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Aicha’s brother stands in front of a millet field. The field is dry and barren.

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Three village boys run through a hot, dry, dusty field that shows no sign of fertility.

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Aicha’s brother and sister drink the millet-and-water porridge from a soup ladle. This is the only sustenance they have, apart from their one meal in the evening.

Sponsor a child in Niger today. Sponsorship provides extra support during times of emergency, like the current drought and hunger crisis, and offers a safety net against preventable causes of sickness and death.